By HUNTER O. LYLE
PORTVILLE, NY – A three-shot-three goal day from one of their youngest players on the roster led the Portville girl’s soccer team to an overpowering win over Allegany-Limestone, claiming their seventh Cattaraugus Chautauqua Athletic Association victory at 3-1.
With the regular season’s end in sight, both teams entered Wednesday’s contest after seemingly hitting their stride at the perfect time. For the Gators, their end of season surge proved to be the exact opposite of their start. Opening their campaign at 1-6-2, A-L had pulled out four wins in the past five games before meeting the Panthers.
“It started when we lost Madison Kahm. I think it was one of those situations where when one of your best players goes down, everybody steps up some,” said Allegany-Limestone head coach Dale MacArthur, whose team beat both the No. 1 and No. 2 seeded teams in CCAA Division I.
Against Portville, who sat just one spot ahead of the Gators in the league standings at the time of their meeting, A-L’s streak would be challenged, sooner rather than later. Getting the first touch of the game, Portville quickly went on the attack, striking a deep run into enemy territory immediately out of the gates. Despite allowing a few run outs from their opponents, the Panthers began setting up shop from the midfield on.
As always Grace Gariepy had her footprints all over the game. Breaking up passing lanes, weaving in and out of crowds of defenders and finding her teammates downfield, she boasted the workload onto her shoulders, however, the Panthers’ early drives to the net were sent back with a fine line of Gator defense, including multiple last-minute saves from goalkeeper Kenna MacArthur.
As the minutes wore on, A-L began breaking through the barricade. With bursts of speed, the Gators found routes to open space down the sidelines, creating pathways that would turn the Panthers’ attention to defense as they relieve some pressure. But as they began to find their footing, Portville stole the spotlight.
In the 29th minute, Ava Edwards received a pass from midfield, then taking it to the right sideline before curving towards the middle. There, she connected a cross with Allie Bray, who punched in a shot to the far left corner to put Portville on the board. Although the Gators responded with their best showing yet, seizing ball control and extending their time of attack, the Panthers ultimately found a breakthrough less than six minutes later. An initial shot from Gariepy was deflected, then finding the foot of Bray for her second goal of the day.
“Allie has been dealing with some nagging injuries so her practice time has been almost non-existent over the past couple of weeks. So it’s frustrating for her because she wants to be in there but it’s better that we save her for games,” said Portville head coach Mike Matz. “She’s still a tenth grader so she’s still learning the game and maturing a little bit but I think tonight is just a big boost of confidence for her going forward.”
Entering the second half with work to do, the Gators’ hard-fought momentum carried over. Fending off another initial charge from the Panthers, it would be A-L’s turn to take control of possession as they routinely barged into Portville’s backfield. However, while their attack at midfield proved effective, their drives continuously fizzled out as the net came within reach. Forced passes through traffic, miscommunication and missed rotations kept them just one final touch from a shot and midway through the second half, they still looked up at a 2-0 deficit.
In the 21st minute, Kai Wojewoda-Ko took it upon herself. Intercepting a pass just beyond midfield, Wojewoda-Ko dribbled down field with defenders leaning on each one of her shoulders. Curving right, she sliced a shot to the left, punching in her tenth goal of the season to cut the lead to just one.
The excitement on the Gators’ sideline would last less than a minute. Twenty-three seconds later, Portville stormed down the field, feeding Bray for her third goal of the season and sucking the wind out of A-L’s sails.
Through the remaining 19 minutes, both teams battled back-and-forth with physicality and aggression, but the score would remain unchanged. Behind Bray’s hot night, the Panthers tallied win No. 9 on the season while the Gators recorded loss No. 8.
“We worked all season on passing the ball and getting to be able to pass to where we want it to be and we’re going to continue working on that,” said MacArthur. “If you’ve got the ball, the other team doesn’t and tonight we didn’t have it as much as we would have hoped for. For us, we’re just going to focus on getting people open. We have a lot of inexperience in playing key roles and you can’t replace that. So we’re trying to work on possessing the ball, passing, receiving it and making runs to good spaces.”
While A-L has just one game left before the end of their regular season, a league matchup against Jamestown on Monday, Portville has four more opportunities to prepare for the ensuing playoffs. First, they will take on Cuba Rushford/Hinsdale on Saturday before taking to the road to visit Olean on Monday, Oct. 13. They will then close out their schedule at home, playing Falconer/CV/MG on Wednesday and Elliocottville on Friday.
